History
The Gaming Buddha started out as a simple side blog that I’d kept since 2009. It was during that year I was just laid off from GameCrazy, a week or so before the whole company collapsed and shut all of its stores down. I was pretty down at the time so I spent half of the year writing news and various types of reviews before I got a seasonal job at Garden Ridge. In April of 2010 I was let go again. And again I out trying find a new job. In between looking for a new job I started writing again on my blog. One day I made a post on MySpace that I was thinking about getting into writing about video games. That’s when a local video game website contacted me and asked if I wanted to write for him. I said sure, sent him some samples and waited. Within a few days I was brought on as a writer/reviewer for the site. During my time at the site, I was able to gain a ton of experience and even got to cover events. The biggest event that I was able to cover in person was of course E3. I have attended the expo three times and each time felt just as exciting as the last. In 2014 I had started to feel restless, due to some statements said about me behind my back. While I did keep up my work for the site, I felt like I hit a wall. That’s when I started to write on my personal blog again, but on the side. I made sure that my work on my blog didn’t interfere with work that I did on the site. My editor didn’t see it that way and decided that it was best that I move on. I thanked him for all the opportunities that were given to me while I was there for the past seven years. I took a break for a bout a month and then in April I officially launched thegamingbuddha.com. Now that is has been a year and some change later, The Gaming Buddha is still here and doing alright. Sure there have been some bumps in the road and life altering events that have happened, but I am still just as dedicated to the site as I was a year ago.
What is The Gaming Buddha?
The Gaming Buddha at first was a gaming news site with a primary interest in Japanese gaming and anime. But changes in the industry have had me to adapt. During the first year of thegamingbuddha.com I learned that sometimes there will be dry spells in the news and that other forms of content must be created so that visitors to the site have something to click on. This meant branching out to other interests such as indie gaming, event coverage and nerd/geek hobbies. So I started produce videos such as Buddha’s Indie Game Showcase, Buddha Plays, conduct video interviews at events and film panels. Now I dabble in a bit of everything.
Rating system for video games
The rating system that I use for reviewing video games is based on the 1 to 10 scale. With 1 being not worth your time and 10 being a must buy.
Full disclosure
Ever since GamerGate exposed how some video gaming journalists were getting too chummy with developers and PR firms, gaming sites are now making their writers disclosure information such as if they backed the game on a crowd-sourcing site, know the developer on a personal level, is a part of a development team, etc etc. Which is a good example that they should have been setting in the first place for other sites, big and small, to follow. So with that in mind here are some things that I would like to disclose: Unless I have stated so, every single game that has been either reviewed or has been on a Buddha Plays or a Indie Game Showcase are review copies that have been sent to me. I also have a few biases, such as I am console person. I do the majority of my gaming on consoles. Also some of my favorite games are Japanese developed games. But just because I preferences, does not mean I will give them special treatment. If the game is bad, like really really bad, it is my duty as a reviewer and a fan to let other know to stay away and save their money. There will also be times in which not all games will get a proper review, but I approved of and had fun with. These games will be featured on either Indie Game Showcase or Buddha Plays.
